quote:I imagine Chris Sciambra will be one of the other two spots if two of the incoming freshman aren't out of this world.

Mainieri specifically mentioned Sciambra as a possibility for the outfield. He said normally you would assume Sciambra would be a lock to start but he said the competition is too tough to make that call now. He didn't say who was vying for the two OF spots other than Sciambra.

I'm glad to hear that we are going to be more athletic in the outfield. I also hopes this means we can get some stronger arms out there as well. I still don't really understand why you don't just designate Rhymes to hit. His game isn't fooling anyone.

My only guess is that they feel he is more locked in at the plate when he is also in the field.

I'm not hating on Rhymes, best pure hitter in a long time and clearly given what he did with his scholarship is an excellent team guy. I really just want to stem the tide of teams taking extra bases on the Tigers because we don't have a legitimate threat to throw anyone out. Clearly Sciambra's defense will help. Not sure what kind of arm he was sporting in center before the injury since the sample size was so small, but I would imagine it would be an upgrade.

Coach Will Davis has told me in private that Javi Sanchez is regarded as one of the best recruiters in college baseball. It's the main reason LSU's recruiting classes are usually in the top 10 each year.

Fair enough...it was just painful to watch the outfield we had in the super-regional. I think it can be safely stated that that was the worst defensive outfield seen in these parts in a long time in terms of speed, athleticism, range, etc.